Eddie we can't agree more on this.

Whether you are a musician, plumber, printer or whatever, whether you are in a cover band, jazz band or originals band, you have to treat it like a business.

If you show up late for rehearsal, show up unprepared for rehearsal, show up late for the gig, take too long of a break on the gig, pay more attention to the drugs or member of the opposite sex, or have any number of other lax work ethics, you cannot be in my band.

You have to learn and play your part to the best of your ability, you have to skip your breaks when the crowd is up and a break would be inappropriate, you have to have a fun loving attitude on stage even though you are serious about your music,

...and to put it in a nutshell...

Our band has a product and we are in direct competition with our friends in other bands. If we want to be able to work and charge the maximum going rate, we have to do whatever we can to provide a better service to the entertainment purchaser than our friends in the other bands. And when I say whatever it takes, I mean whatever it takes.

And that goes if you are a cover band, tribute band, original tunes band, jazz band, rap band, Mariachi band, or whatever.

And if you don't do that, someone else who does will get more gigs than you do.

If you want to make a living playing music, you have to be better than the next guy.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to be well-connected too, but most of us do not have that option.

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Bored you say?

I don't get bored with music. There are always new songs to learn, new instruments to learn, new places to play, new people to meet.

I started out playing drums but quickly moved to sax. Now I play sax, flute, wind synthesizer, keyboard synth, vocals (the hardest one to learn so far), bass, computer, I still play drums but on electronic drum controllers, and my newest instrument, lead guitar.

I make my own MIDI backing tracks for my duo.

I learned how to make user styles for BiaB out of curiosity and ended up starting the Norton Music business where I learned how to run a 'real' business, write HTML and publish my own web pages, and work the shopping cart (and it was mail-order before that).

I haven't got time to be bored. I turned of the cable TV and disconnected the antenna in the 1980s - didn't get a digital converter either. I've never seen even one episode of The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Taxi, Sopranos, MASH, Desperate Housewives, American Idol, Cheers and many other shows I hear about. The last football game I watched was in the 1970s.

I haven't got time for TV. Talk about being bored doing the same thing over and over again! I can't see how people watch the same football/baseball/basketball game or the same sitcom over and over again. To me that's boredom. I'm doing stuff, improving my skills, involving mind and body, and the time passes too quickly.

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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